If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

6 former starters lost. We move on. Looking forward to this year and some fresh faces. It could be real good.

This sums it up perfectly "move on with fresh faces".It would appear that we could be looking at 15-20 new players on this 2013 roster from only a year ago. Since the media likes to call us old and in some respects that is true they may need to put the brakes on that as the youth movement is here. I agree things could be real good in 2013. Reload and fire!

The only FAs we lost that we will miss (in my often ignored opinion) are: Deebo, Lewis and (get ready for it) Legs. The others will not be such a concern IMO.

Deebo is never going to be replaced no matter when/how he left, Lewis had what we want, but we don't overspend that often on position players, and Legs was so usable in many situations. Good football smarts, too. Mark my words, you will say "It sure would be good to have Legs on our roster now" at least once this season.

Great article.

The bumble bee unis suck. I wish we had brought back the Batman unis instead.

When worrying about replacing former starters after a disappointing season, we only can really look at the 2012 version of those players to evaluate their loss on an 8-8 team. In losing Casey are we losing a 5 time pro-bowler, former starter, and once dominant anchor to our D? Yes. Is that the 2012 guy from our 8-8 team who we need to replace? Not even close. McClendon - or Fangupo, or Ta'Amu - only has to replace the older, slower, less-effective Big Snack that we saw last season. Considering how many people were complaining that Stevie M looked better last season and should have surpassed Casey as the starter, that should not be an issue.

IMO the only players worth talking about here are Wallace, Lewis, Deebo, and Starks - and possibly Heath.

Wallace was rarely in sync with the offense for most of the season. He accounted for 836 receiving yards and while his official "drop" number was not that bad, his "didn't go all out so he never got his hands on the ball" number was much higher. There are two factors that we will miss from Wallace. One is his speed and ability to take the top off the D, and the other is his knack for finding the end zone. He scored 8 times last season, and 32 in his four years in black and gold. While they can't replace the speed factor, both Brown and Sanders had down years last year, so their potential to pick up most of the slack, along with Wheaton. All in all, replacing Wallace 2012 - along with his attitude and laziness - should be very doable by what is already in-house.

Lewis is another story. Lewis 2012 is the very best we have ever seen from Keenan Lewis. I believe that he can be replaced quite well by Cortez Allen, however the more difficult job will be replacing the ball-hawk Allen in the nickel. IMO Allen is set to step up big. He has all of the physical tools of a young Ike Taylor but with hands. I have always said that Taylor is a pair of hands away from being on the level of a Champ Bailey etc., and believe that Allen has that potential. If Gay, Hawthorne, DVD, or even Shamarko can step in on the nickel then I can see the Lewis loss being minimal.

Deebo was one of the greats, but again, Deebo 2012 was nothing special. He missed a few games, and then came back lame. It wasn't until the last 6 games or so that we saw someone wearing #92 who even somewhat resembled James Harrison. Replacing the guy we saw at the end of the year (although still not as good as James in his prime) is a task, but replacing 6/16 of that player not so much. His full body of work last season was not that impressive, and I do believe that the combination of Jones and Worilds, along with the improvement we are expecting in Woodley on the other side, will more than make up for the 16 game loss of JH.

Finally we have the one loss that I can't really get a handle on. I have always been a big backer of Starks, going back to the trib days, through the job loss to Colon, for many years. We also have to count on two unknowns in replacing him - both Gilbert and Adams. Both of them must produce, and one of them is coming off of stab wounds to the belly. Gilbert was strong at RT his rookie year and then has fallen off with injuries to himself and those around him. Can he get back to his rookie form? Adams was in tough early, then showed much better, then hurt himself. Will he be able to heal, get into shape, and improve? That might be asking a lot for someone who was so recently lying in a hospital bed. To me this is the toughest loss to call. I would hate even more to be in a position where either Whimper or Beachum is a starter for more than a game or two.

Heath's recovery is also huge. He had a breakout season last year (funny to say about a 30 year old guy who had been solid up until this point in his career) and his contributions will now be heaped onto the combo of Paulson and Spaeth. Unless those two can get onto the field at the same time and only count as one player, we will see a downgrade at TE. Hopefully they can carry the torch if needed short term, but I would have little faith in them filling in as starters for the bulk of the season.

When worrying about replacing former starters after a disappointing season, we only can really look at the 2012 version of those players to evaluate their loss on an 8-8 team. In losing Casey are we losing a 5 time pro-bowler, former starter, and once dominant anchor to our D? Yes. Is that the 2012 guy from our 8-8 team who we need to replace? Not even close. McClendon - or Fangupo, or Ta'Amu - only has to replace the older, slower, less-effective Big Snack that we saw last season. Considering how many people were complaining that Stevie M looked better last season and should have surpassed Casey as the starter, that should not be an issue.

IMO the only players worth talking about here are Wallace, Lewis, Deebo, and Starks - and possibly Heath.

Wallace was rarely in sync with the offense for most of the season. He accounted for 836 receiving yards and while his official "drop" number was not that bad, his "didn't go all out so he never got his hands on the ball" number was much higher. There are two factors that we will miss from Wallace. One is his speed and ability to take the top off the D, and the other is his knack for finding the end zone. He scored 8 times last season, and 32 in his four years in black and gold. While they can't replace the speed factor, both Brown and Sanders had down years last year, so their potential to pick up most of the slack, along with Wheaton. All in all, replacing Wallace 2012 - along with his attitude and laziness - should be very doable by what is already in-house.

Lewis is another story. Lewis 2012 is the very best we have ever seen from Keenan Lewis. I believe that he can be replaced quite well by Cortez Allen, however the more difficult job will be replacing the ball-hawk Allen in the nickel. IMO Allen is set to step up big. He has all of the physical tools of a young Ike Taylor but with hands. I have always said that Taylor is a pair of hands away from being on the level of a Champ Bailey etc., and believe that Allen has that potential. If Gay, Hawthorne, DVD, or even Shamarko can step in on the nickel then I can see the Lewis loss being minimal.

Deebo was one of the greats, but again, Deebo 2012 was nothing special. He missed a few games, and then came back lame. It wasn't until the last 6 games or so that we saw someone wearing #92 who even somewhat resembled James Harrison. Replacing the guy we saw at the end of the year (although still not as good as James in his prime) is a task, but replacing 6/16 of that player not so much. His full body of work last season was not that impressive, and I do believe that the combination of Jones and Worilds, along with the improvement we are expecting in Woodley on the other side, will more than make up for the 16 game loss of JH.

Finally we have the one loss that I can't really get a handle on. I have always been a big backer of Starks, going back to the trib days, through the job loss to Colon, for many years. We also have to count on two unknowns in replacing him - both Gilbert and Adams. Both of them must produce, and one of them is coming off of stab wounds to the belly. Gilbert was strong at RT his rookie year and then has fallen off with injuries to himself and those around him. Can he get back to his rookie form? Adams was in tough early, then showed much better, then hurt himself. Will he be able to heal, get into shape, and improve? That might be asking a lot for someone who was so recently lying in a hospital bed. To me this is the toughest loss to call. I would hate even more to be in a position where either Whimper or Beachum is a starter for more than a game or two.

Heath's recovery is also huge. He had a breakout season last year (funny to say about a 30 year old guy who had been solid up until this point in his career) and his contributions will now be heaped onto the combo of Paulson and Spaeth. Unless those two can get onto the field at the same time and only count as one player, we will see a downgrade at TE. Hopefully they can carry the torch if needed short term, but I would have little faith in them filling in as starters for the bulk of the season.

Well written and right on the money. Agree with you on all points.

My greatest concern remains the OL and unfortunately it seems we have chosen the hope and prayer path to success since we added nothing in the draft that will help.

Playing Fantasy Football does not qualify you to be the in the front office or on the coaching staff of the Pittsburgh Steelers. They are professionals and you are not!